Speaker 1: Welcome to Astronomy Daily. I'm your host Anna. Today We've
Speaker 1: got a packed episode covering India's ambitious new space projects,
Speaker 1: SpaceX's plans to catch starship, exciting discoveries about water on
Speaker 1: the Moon, groundbreaking observations from a new X ray telescope,
Speaker 1: and concerns about satellite interference with radio Astronomy. Let's dive
Speaker 1: right in first Up Today. India has recently greenlit an
Speaker 1: ambitious slate of space projects, showcasing its commitment to becoming
Speaker 1: a major player in space exploration. The Indian government has
Speaker 1: allocated a substantial two point seven billion dollars for these endeavors,
Speaker 1: which are set to push the boundaries of the nation's
Speaker 1: space capabilities. At the forefront of these plans is the
Speaker 1: Chandriyan four mission, a bold lunar sample return effort aimed
Speaker 1: at collecting material from the Moon's south polar region. This
Speaker 1: mission builds on the success of Chandrian three and demonstrates
Speaker 1: India's growing expertise in lunar exploration. Equally exciting is India's
Speaker 1: approval of its first venus orbiter mission, known as Shukre.
Speaker 1: While initially planned for an earlier launch, the mission is
Speaker 1: now targeted for twenty twenty eight. This venture will allow
Speaker 1: India to join the select group of nations that have
Speaker 1: sent spacecraft to our planetary neighbor. Perhaps most ambitious is
Speaker 1: India's plan to develop its first space station module, name
Speaker 1: the Paratia Enturich Station or BAS. This project signifies India's
Speaker 1: aspirations for a long term human presence in space. The
Speaker 1: first module is slated for launch by the end of
Speaker 1: twenty twenty eight, with full operational status expected by twenty
Speaker 1: thirty five. These projects not only highlight India's technological advancements,
Speaker 1: but also underscore its determination to become a key player
Speaker 1: in the global space arena. Let's delve deeper into India's
Speaker 1: ambitious Chandrian formassion. This lunar sample return endeavor is set
Speaker 1: to be a complex operation involving four modules launched across
Speaker 1: two separate rocket flights. The first launch will carry a
Speaker 1: lander and a sample collecting a sender vehicle targeting the
Speaker 1: lunar South Pole region. The second launch will deliver a
Speaker 1: transfer module and a re entry module to lunar orbit.
Speaker 1: The mission's primary goal is to collect lunar samples from
Speaker 1: Shivshakti point where the Chandreyan three spacecraft previously landed. Once collected,
Speaker 1: the ascender will launch from the Moon's surface and transfer
Speaker 1: its precious cargo to the re entry module. This module
Speaker 1: will then make the crucial journey back to Earth, aiming
Speaker 1: for a safe touchdown with the lunar samples intact. This
Speaker 1: ambitious project not only pushes India's space capabilities, but also
Speaker 1: sets the stage for future crude missions to the Moon.
Speaker 1: The technologies developed and tested during Chandreyan four will be
Speaker 1: critical for India's goal of landing astronauts on the lunar
Speaker 1: surface by twenty forty and India's space ambitions continue to grow,
Speaker 1: with plans now approved for the country's first space station module.
Speaker 1: The module, named bas Ie, is set to launch by
Speaker 1: December twenty twenty eight. This marks a significant step for
Speaker 1: India's space program, as they aim to have a fully
Speaker 1: operational space station by twenty thirty five. Meanwhile, India's Venus
Speaker 1: orbiter mission, known as Shukrayan, has faced some delays. Originally
Speaker 1: planned for an earlier launch, the mission is now targeted
Speaker 1: for March twenty twenty eight. The orbiter will carry a
Speaker 1: suite of scientific instruments to study Venus's atmosphere, geology and evolution.
Speaker 1: These projects, along with the Chandrian form mission we just discussed,
Speaker 1: demonstrate India's commitment to becoming a major player in space exploration.
Speaker 1: With a budget of nearly one hundred and fifty million
Speaker 1: dollars allocated for the Venus mission alone, it's clear that
Speaker 1: India is investing heavily in its space future. Next up,
Speaker 1: SpaceX is gearing up for another groundbreaking achievement in spaceflight
Speaker 1: history with their upcoming Starship test flight. The company plans
Speaker 1: to attempt something truly revolutionary, catching the massive super heavy
Speaker 1: first stage booster using the chopstick arms of the launch
Speaker 1: tower at their Starbase facility in Texas. This ambitious maneuver,
Speaker 1: if successful, would take rocket reusability to the next level.
Speaker 1: Instead of landing on a ship at sea or a
Speaker 1: designated pad, catching the booster right on the launch mount
Speaker 1: could dramatically reduce turnaround time between flights. SpaceX has been
Speaker 1: practicing with these tower arms, designed to lift both stages
Speaker 1: of Starship. Recent photos show them raising the super heavy
Speaker 1: booster to the expected catch height. While SpaceX says they've
Speaker 1: been ready for this next test flight since early August.
Speaker 1: Regulatory reviews have delayed the launch. The FAA isn't expected
Speaker 1: to complete its assessment until late November at the earliest.
Speaker 1: When it does fly, this will be Starship's fifth test flight.
Speaker 1: Each previous mission has shown improvement, with the last one
Speaker 1: reaching orbital velocity before a successful splashdown of both stages.
Speaker 1: If SpaceX can pull off this catch, it would be
Speaker 1: a major milestone in their quest to make Starship rapidly
Speaker 1: and fully reusable, a key to their goals of affordable
Speaker 1: space access and eventual Mars colonization. Let's take a look
Speaker 1: now at what's going on in China. Chinese private space
Speaker 1: companies are making significant strides in developing reusable rocket technology.
Speaker 1: Two firms, Deep Blue Aerospace and land Space have recently
Speaker 1: conducted impressive high altitude hop tests within their prototype vehicles.
Speaker 1: Land Space achieved a notable milestone in late August with
Speaker 1: its Juqua three hopper prototype. The vehicle swored to an
Speaker 1: altitude of ten kilometers during a two hundred second flight
Speaker 1: that included a crucial engine reignition test. The single tian
Speaker 1: K twelve B engine performed flawlessly, accurately landing just one
Speaker 1: point two meters from the center of the pad. Not
Speaker 1: to be outdone, Deep Blue Aerospace is preparing for its
Speaker 1: own high altitude test. Their shing Yan one first stage prototype,
Speaker 1: also known as Nebula one, is being readied for a
Speaker 1: flight between five and ten kilometers. This follows successful lower
Speaker 1: altitude tests with their subscale Nebula M vehicle. Both companies
Speaker 1: are aiming to develop fully reusable orbital launchers. Land Space's
Speaker 1: finished jew K three will stand taller than a Falcon
Speaker 1: nine at nearly seventy seven meters, powered by nine methane
Speaker 1: fueled engines. Deep blues shing Yuan one will feature nine
Speaker 1: kerosene burning engines in a configuration similar to the Falcon nine.
Speaker 1: These tests represent significant progress for China's commercial space sector
Speaker 1: as they work towards cost effective, reusable launch capabilities to
Speaker 1: serve the growing demand for satellite deployment. New research has
Speaker 1: revealed that water is far more abundant on the Moon
Speaker 1: than previously thought. A study based on data from NASA's
Speaker 1: Moon Mineralogy Mapper has shown that water and hydroxyl molecules
Speaker 1: are widespread across the lunar surface, not just confined to
Speaker 1: the poles as once believed. The analysis found water hidden
Speaker 1: in ice deposits in shaded areas and inside enriched rocks. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: hydroxyl molecules, which are components of water, form when solar
Speaker 1: protons interact with oxygen in the lunar regolith. These findings
Speaker 1: suggest that future astronauts may be able to find water
Speaker 1: resources even near the Moon's equator. Two types of lunar
Speaker 1: rocks were identified as potential water sources. The dark Marba
Speaker 1: salts are relatively dry, while the anorthosite rocks found in
Speaker 1: the lunar highlands contain more water heating. These rocks could
Speaker 1: potentially provide a long lasting water supply for lunar missions,
Speaker 1: while polar ice deposits remain the most accessible water source.
Speaker 1: This new understanding of lunar water distribution opens up possibilities
Speaker 1: for more flexible mission planning. However, extracting water from rocks
Speaker 1: would require significant energy expenditure. These discoveries are crucial for
Speaker 1: future lunar exploration and potential bases, as they could reduce
Speaker 1: the need to transport water from Earth. Understanding the Moon's
Speaker 1: water resources is a key step in making long term
Speaker 1: lunar missions sustainable. Japan's X Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission
Speaker 1: or x RISM, has unveiled its first results, and they
Speaker 1: are absolutely fascinating. This space telescope, operated by JACKSA with
Speaker 1: ESA's participation, has captured stunning observations of two cosmic phenomena.
Speaker 1: First up, x RISM studied a supermassive black hole at
Speaker 1: the heart of galaxy NNGC four THY one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty one, about sixty two million light years away. The
Speaker 1: telescope tracked superheated plasma circling the black hole at distances
Speaker 1: as close as zero point zero zero one light years.
Speaker 1: Precedented view is giving astronomers new insights into how these
Speaker 1: cosmic giants feed and grow. But that's not all. XORISM
Speaker 1: also turned its gaze to a supernova remnant called N
Speaker 1: one hundred thirty two D in our galactic neighbor, the
Speaker 1: large Magellanic Cloud. This cosmic bubble of plasma ejected from
Speaker 1: a massive star about three thousand years ago, revealed some surprises.
Speaker 1: Instead of the expected spherical shell, the remnant is more
Speaker 1: doughnut shaped and expanding at a mind boggling two point
Speaker 1: six million miles per hour. Even more astonishing, its temperature
Speaker 1: clocks in at a scorching eighteen billion degrees fahrenheit. These
Speaker 1: observations are helping scientists better understand the life cycles of
Speaker 1: massive stars and how elements are distributed throughout the cosmos.
Speaker 1: With over three thousand proposals submitted for future studies, it's
Speaker 1: clear that xorism is just getting started in revolutionizing our
Speaker 1: view of the X ray universe. While starlink satellites have
Speaker 1: already raised concerns about their impact on visible light astronomy,
Speaker 1: new research reveals they may pose an even greater threat
Speaker 1: to radio astronomy. Recent observations using the Low Frequency Array
Speaker 1: or lo FAR, have shown that SpaceX's second generation v
Speaker 1: too many starlink satellites are emitting up to thirty two
Speaker 1: times more radio waves than their predecessors. These unintentional radio
Speaker 1: emissions are astonishingly bright, about ten million times brighter than
Speaker 1: the faintest astronomical objects lo FAR can detect. This means
Speaker 1: any radio telescope observing when a starlink satellite passes overhead
Speaker 1: could have its data completely overwhelmed. As companies like SpaceX
Speaker 1: and one Web plan to launch tens of thousands more satellites,
Speaker 1: astronomers are increasingly concerned about the future of radio astronomy.
Speaker 1: Without proper regulations and cooperation from satellite operators, our ability
Speaker 1: to study the universe through radio waves could be severely compromised.
Speaker 1: This underscores the urgent need for dialogue between the astronomy
Speaker 1: community and satellite companies to find solutions that allow both
Speaker 1: internet access and scientific research to coexist. And that brings
Speaker 1: us to the end of today's Astronomy Daily. I hope
Speaker 1: you've enjoyed this cosmic journey through the latest space and
Speaker 1: astronomy news. Thanks so much for tuning in. If you're
Speaker 1: hungry for more, head over to our website at Astronomy
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Speaker 1: Keep looking up Sunday Start Starz